SOSEScript: CIVweatherright.php5 failed executing with the following error:
Error on line 16 position 1: Undefined property: stdClass::$location
Error on line 16 position 1: Trying to get property of non-object
Error on line 17 position 1: Undefined property: stdClass::$current_observation
Error on line 17 position 1: Trying to get property of non-object
Error on line 18 position 1: Undefined property: stdClass::$current_observation
Error on line 18 position 1: Trying to get property of non-object
Error on line 19 position 1: Undefined property: stdClass::$current_observation
Error on line 19 position 1: Trying to get property of non-object
Error on line 20 position 1: Undefined property: stdClass::$current_observation
Error on line 20 position 1: Trying to get property of non-object
Error on line 21 position 1: Undefined property: stdClass::$current_observation
Error on line 21 position 1: Trying to get property of non-object
Error on line 22 position 1: Undefined property: stdClass::$current_observation
Error on line 22 position 1: Trying to get property of non-object
Error on line 23 position 1: Undefined property: stdClass::$current_observation
Error on line 23 position 1: Trying to get property of non-object

Trial date set for kidnap suspect

A trial date has been set for the man accused of kidnapping a Portsmouth woman and keeping her in the basement of a building. Stephen Drummond, 29, of Greenfield, OH, will go on trial on Feb. 11, 2013.

On March 17, 2012, Drummond was arrested after a Portsmouth woman told police a harrowing story about being kidnapped and choked, and after the woman identified her assailant.

“A woman was picked up and taken to the basement of a building downtown and choked,” Portsmouth Police Detective Sgt. Jim Charles said. “She was choked to the point that she became unconscious. She was able to escape when the suspect went to a different part of the basement.”

Charles said, after the escape, the woman ended up at her mother’s house where she called police and was taken to Southern Ohio Medical Center.

“About the same time that she was calling the police, he (Drummond) called police and told us somebody broke into his building,” Charles said. “The police officers went there and did a security check of the building and didn’t find anybody, and they left.”

Charles said it was then that the patrol officer who had searched the building talked with the officer who had been at the hospital talking with the alleged victim.

“He started putting two and two together and found that the instances were related,” Charles said. “We found (Drummond) again. I interviewed him. He was adamant about three people being in the building. He gave us consent to search the building. The patrol officers searched it a little more thoroughly, because the first time they were only looking for the three individuals he (Drummond) told them had broken in. When he gave them consent, they went in looking for evidence of crimes.” Charles said officers didn’t find anything, but took photos of the scene.

“I interviewed the victim after she was released from the hospital,” Charles said. “She had a very compelling story of (attempted) strangulation, the fact that she thought that she had died until she saw his face again.”

“He is charged with kidnapping, felonious assault, and two counts of solicitation,” Scioto County Prosecutor Mark Kuhn said. Drummond is currently out on bond pending further pre-trial hearings.

Frank Lewis may be reached at 740-353-3101, ext. 252, or at flewis@heartlandpublications.com.